The Rescue
by Hayffie-Art
Summary: Hayffie one shot. Inspired by a scene between jack and rose in Titanic. A/U-ish. Dist 13 is under attack but Haymitch gets himself into trouble and locked away for the night. As the attack gets worse, he gets forgotten about. Well, not by Effie. Will she rescue him before its too late?


The Rescue.

The latest attack from the capitol had district 13 in a mass panic.

Haymitch shouldn't have hit that guard though, even if he had been a little rough with prim. She'd hung around for that stupid cat again and caused a fuss, concluding in a guard with a bloody nose and Haymitch escorted down to the cells for the evening.

'Boom' another thud followed by a low rumble

Shock waves, trumendous and thick, had been shaking the underground for the past hour.

"They've found us!" People cried

"It's over!" Others wept.

After an attack from above had proven wasteful, Snow had obviously thought long and hard about his next move. No one could figure out how he was causing the shock waves to form and hit but the closer he got, the stronger they got and the very foundations of their underground sanctuary were being shaken to the core.

The plan was for everyone to head to higher levels, which caused panic in itself. 13 had never been prepared for sub level attack. Water pipes had burst below and already 13 had lost its pit level. The water was rising slowly but until the attack stopped, coin refused to open the vents to let the water escape, in fear of giving themselves away. No. They would wait it out. The attack couldn't last much longer into the night and the water had a good 20 more levels to reach until they might be in danger of all drowning. There were no bunkers or safe rooms upper level so everyone had gathered close in the justice hall up on main level, that's when Effie had seen him.

"Is that the guard that Haymitch hit?"

Katniss looked over to where Effie stared and nodded

"Thats him, coward" she tutted as he sat there messing with his injured nose "Pushing a child around…huh"

Effie looked around sharply but the object of her interest was nowhere in sight

"Haymitch…where's Haymitch?"

He was slowly coming to terms with his impending fate.

The water was freezing and was now at waist level. He pulled and squeezed and did everything he could to free himself from the cuffs around his wrist but it was pointless. He was stuck. Cuffed to a jail cell door, alone and forgotten about for sticking up for that adorable little tyke. He blamed the cat instead. As the water rose slowly but surely, he hoped the damn fur ball was swimming somewhere alone too and tried to bring himself comfort with that thought.

He called out one last time in hope that someone had heard his 20 other calls, but again, he was answered by the rumbling of another shock wave and the lul of gushing water.

"You left him!" Effie shrieked "Down there!?"

The guard got on his radio immediately. "Anyone down near level 2?" He called into the talkie "emergency! Prisoner still detained on level 2"

There was a crackling and a voice but it was unclear to make out. The guard held the talkie to his ear as everyone held there breath.

"We're too high up. It must mean there is a team still down there. Don't worry, they'll get to him"

"Like hell I'm taking your word for it"

Effie ran. As fast as her heels could take her and suprisingly, that was fast.

"Effie stop!" Katniss called out but she couldn't follow. Poor prim was clinging to her in fright and wouldn't let her go.

Effie knew she shouldn't, but anger and fear had taken over and she jumped into the elevator and hit floor 2.

The thing screeched and scrapped down every level until she heard the familiar sound of rumbling and held on for dear life as another wave hit, shaking the entire mechanism.

Effie cursed as her head scraped something sharp at the impact "Damnit!"

Only a trickle of blood, she was ok. Frightened and all too aware of the sound of rushing water getting louder. It was the sheer and awful thought of Haymitch drowning all alone with no one to try and help, that kept her going. She couldn't let him die that way. She hoped he hadn't already.

Haymitch was shivering. The water was freezing and now at torso level. This was going to be a long and painful way to die. He placed his head against the steel bars and let out a breath. Then he thought about the cat, and hoped that it wasn't really floating alone somewhere, but that it was safe and warm in Prims arms.

Nice warm arms. He could do with some of those right now. He didn't know why but suddenly Effies face shot into his mind. He closed his eyes and thought about her smile, her blush free cheeks and her garish outfits. She'd always had warm hands though. He'd noticed that, every time she'd brushed past him or touched his arm. Her hands had been warm and gentle. He'd miss those hands…

"Hello?!"

He wouldn't miss that shrill voice much

"Hello? Haymitch?"

His eyes blinked open. Was he imagening that too? Her voice?

"Effie?" He called softly, but when she didn't reply he felt stupid and placed his head back against the bars.

He took a long deep breath as his ears strained for any sign of rescue. Then he picked up on something off…. the water. It wasn't as much rushing or gushing than it was…splashing.

With the water almost up to her shoulders, Effie waded carefully, clinging to the pipes that lined the hallway ceilings

"Haymitch!? Haym-" her hand suddenly slipped and she plunged fully into the water. "Puh!" She spluttered resurfacing quickly. The water was freezing, and swimming through it in heels was not easy. She kicked them off cursing as she did so as they were her last pair and continued to swim to the end of the corridor where she knew the small cellblock was.

As soon as he saw her, soaked and shivering and swimming towards him with an acomplished grin, his heart skipped a beat

"Effie!"

"Haymitch!" She yelled out in relief. The icy cold water was suddenly unimportant as the feeling that she had accomplished something all by herself, washed over her.

"I found you!"

"You did sweetheart! Now pass me the keys"

Keys….

She stopped swimming and found a desk beneath the water to cling to.

"Keys…I forgot to get the keys….oh my god! Haymitch! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Effie started to panic.

Haymitch tried to think fast.

"Up there" he nodded toward a guards uniform hung up on a hook "check the pockets, everywhere, there's bound to be keys attached"

Effie hopped off the desk and flopped back into the water. She rummaged and rummaged but could here no jingle of keys on the spare uniform but suddenly her hands fell on something cold and metallic.

She pulled the item from the pocket slowly, careful not to drop it in the wet.

"You find them sweetheart?"

"No" Effie shook her head.

Swallowing hard she turned with the thing dangling between her finger and thumb

A gun.

Haymitch took a breath. His wrists were too tightly bound for him to get a good aim at his cuffs. This was all on Effie.

"OK. .." Haymitch said calmly, tentative not to escalate Effies worries further. She knew what she'd have to do and the terrified look in her eyes put a bad feeling in Haymitchs gut. "Is there bullets in there?" He asked

She looked at him dumbfounded

"Carefully, slowly, flick the catch at the side and check the clip"

She nodded and with shaky hands did as she was asked.

"The little grey metal thingys?" She asked innocently

"How many?"

"Two…"

Two. Damnit. Effie only had one shot at this. 1 bullet for the cuffs and the other for the lock on the cell.  
How did he even begin to tell her. She looked terrified

"Perfect" he lied "you ever fired one of these before?"

She shook her head and a tear fell down her cheek.

"Don't worry sweetheart, you're gonna do just fine. All you gotta do it aim, take an breath and fire"

"I cant" She protested with a quivering lip "What if I miss? What if I hit you?"

"We got no other options here…"

"I can't! I just…I can't!"

"Hey hey…" he tried to soothe "calm down, come here" He kept his voice low and gentle, even though he was a wreck inside.

Effie waded over with the gun firmly in her grip

"Hey…" he said, beckoning her closer to the bars. She looked up at him with big puppy dog eyes and wet and unruly curls and he almost melted. "You got this Trinket. I trust you"

"You do?" She replied sad but hopeful

"With my life. You can do this"

She nodded weakly and closed her eyes to take a breath.

"Back up a little….a little more….OK. just aim, breathe and fire…"

She nodded and stared at him with apologetic eyes as Haymitch lowered his wrists to expose the chain of the cuffs.

"Aim…breathe…fire" she repeated and Haymitch tried to back himself up as far as he could "aim…" She aimed "breathe…" She took a long and shakey breath…

**BANG**

"YOU DID IT!" Haymitch sang in delight

"I did?" Effie replied behind squinted eyes

He laughed out loud in glee and reached for the gun. "Stand back sweetheart" to miss would be embarrassing but of course, he didn't. The lock blew clean off and he sprung from the cell and waded through the water right up to Effie.

"My god damned hero" he laughed and forced a rough kiss upon her lips. He meant it in light jest but she clung to him and it made him want to keep his lips exactly where they were. "C'mon" he said, remembering the ever rising water "let's get out of here.

They'd just about made it down the hall when a large crack rang out around them and the lights sparked out. Effie screamed in shock clinging harder to Haymitch, they waited a second until the emergency lights kicked in but they weren't great. That though, was the least of their troubles. They heard a sudden rush of water as a wave washed over them, catapulting them further down the hall way.

The lift was flooded and sparked out, the emergency door on the stairwell was locked and secured. They were trapped.

"There's a trap door for maintenence over here. It's our last shot, C'mon" Haymitch yelled over the noise. "Keep a look out, up above"

Effie kept her eyes peeled above and focused on the ceiling as the water continued to swarm around them and rise. Her feet hadn't touched the floor in a while, she just clung to Haymitch as he used the pipes along the ceiling to pull them from the current.

"I see it!" He called out. He pushed Effie up the maintenance ladder first but as soon as her hand hit the door she lost all hope.

"It's locked"

He came up beside her, both of them clinging to the ladder as they beat at the trap door, yelling for anyone to hear them.

They tried for as long as they could but heard no response. The water was up to their chins. Their energy had diminished and their bodies were stiffening with the cold.

The look in each others eyes said it all.

"Im-m sorry I c-couldn't save y-you" Effie chattered through gritted teeth. Even knowing her fate, she remained as calm and collected as ever. He admired her for that.

"You saved me sweetheart. More times than you know" he replied sadly, pulling her close. There wasn't any fight left in them. There wasn't anywhere else to go. The water kept rising and there heads bumped up against the trap door.

"I never said thank you for eveything" Haymitch said softly, curling a hand behind her head.

"W-we never said alot of t-things Haymitch"

She looked at him and smiled. Time was running out and she would only get the chance to do this once. Without a second thought she closed the small gap between them and kissed him fully on the mouth. His initial reaction was to freeze but as her lips lingered, the warmth of a kiss had never been so inviting.

He forgot about their impeding doom, he forgot their history and their arguments and their roles as mentor and escort and kissed her back for all it was worth.

"Ahem…." came a voice

A soft giggle and a small light pooled around them.

Had they died? Was this heaven. Their lips still met in a breathtaking frenzy, oblivious to the group of rescuees that suddenly sat above them, holding the trap door open.

"Should we close this back up?" Katniss sniggered, finally grabbing the couples attention.

They had been saved.

"What took you so long kid!" Haymitch said sarcastically, clearing his throat. Effie pushed herself away from him as he helped hoist her up through the door. Boggs helped the both of them up as Plutarch stood close with ready blankets to warm them up.

"You saved his life, miss Trinket" Plutarch smiled congratulatory, trying to diffuse the awkwardness "I'd say he owes you a lifetime of favours"

Katniss sniggered again and Boggs couldn't help but hide his smirk

"What's so funny?" Effie chastised, dripping wet and shivering and clearly embarrassed about being caught undignified. Haymitch shook his head but katniss thought the moment was just too good to pass up on.

"Oh, I'm sure Haymitch is already planning on what those favours will be"

End.


End file.
